PHILADELPHIA — Chan-Min Park, a 17-year-old right-handed pitcher from South Korea, grew up following Major League Baseball from afar.He was familiar with the Philadelphia Phillies. He was even partly named after Chan Ho Park, a South Korea native who pitched for the club in 2009. He admired Cristopher Sánchez — partly because of his dominant performance against Team Korea in the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals this year — as well as Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler.Now Park will begin his own journey in the Phillies’ organization after signing a $1.205 million deal with the club Friday. It is the largest bonus the organization has given to an international amateur pitcher, making Park the highest-paid pitcher in the 2025-26 international signing class.“In a market where we haven’t traditionally signed a lot of players from, it was a great opportunity for us to not only sign the top arm out of the country,” Phillies international scouting director Derrick Chung said, “but also to get the Phillies’ name out there.”The signing marks a significant step in the right direction for the Phillies’ efforts in the Pacific Rim. The club has expanded its scouting efforts in Japan from 2022 onward and hosted Korea Baseball Organization and Nippon Professional Baseball officials at Citizens Bank Park in recent years. But the payoff has been limited.Now the Phillies have signed one of the marquee amateur players from South Korea, joining a strong international class headlined by center fielder Francisco Renteria. Park likely would have been a first-round pick in the KBO but was intrigued by working his way through the minors and eventually landing in Philadelphia.